Gotham Central #19

May 8, 2004

Quick Rating: Great
Title: Unresolved Part One

An eight-year-old case comes back to haunt Marcus Driver, and the culprit may be someone that’s needed a big, bad bat to bring him down before.

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Pencils: Michael Lark
Inks: Stefano Gaudiano
Colors: Lee Loughridge
Letters: Clem Robins
Editor: Matt Idelson
Cover Art: Michael Lark & Lee Loughridge
Publisher: DC Comics

A hostage situation at a fast food joint and Detectives Marcus Driver and Josie Mac rush to the scene. The perpetrator turns out to be someone Driver knows, and furthermore, he seems driven by the memory of a tragedy he survived years ago, one that was never solved. When the situation resolves itself not to his liking, Driver decides to re-open the case.

I’ve been a fan of Josie Mac since Judd Winick introduced her in a Detective Comics back-up serial. I’ve always liked how she keeps her metahuman ability under wraps, to the point where people reading this issue would figure she’s just a crack detective if they didn’t know about her “talent.” It comes in particularly handy as she and Driver take apart the GCPD evidence room trying to find whatever’s left of that age-old case, including a hint at the return of a favorite old character of mine that we haven’t seen in way too long a time.

Lark returns to this title after sitting out the last story arc, and he’s still in top form. Nothing has changed about his style since the last time I reviewed him, he’s still a fantastic artist for a crime serious. Kenny Booker, who takes the hostages, looks grimy and hopeless, like someone driven mad by something or other (we get a hint of what that is at the end, too).

Another plus is that this comic uses a “Previously” page at the beginning. Rather than going for a text page, though, it takes a cue from cop shows on television and presents a series of panels from previous issues that brings the new reader right up to speed.

I’m going to come right out and say it here — Gotham Central is the best comic book from the Big Two that you’re not reading, that no one is even talking about. Crime, action, mystery and good old fashioned “cops and robbers” all come together in this title, and if you’re afraid of over-exposure from the Bat, rest assured that he’s barely seen. Although if you’re looking for something from Batman, his presence is felt throughout.

Rating: 9/10

The Stand: No Man’s Land #1

March 5, 2011

Creative Director: Stephen King
Scripter: Roberto Aquirre-Sacasa
Art: Mike Perkins
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Cover: Tomm Coker
Editor: Ralph Macchio
Publisher: Marvel Comics

With the new committee elected, the Boulder Free Zone seems to be getting itself together, ready to begin rebuilding civilization. But in Las Vegas, Randall Flagg’s forces are gaining power as well, and Nadine Cross will soon have to make a dreadful decision about whose side she will ultimately choose.

Having read the novel version of The Stand several times, I of course already knew what Nadine’s choice will be, but I have to give the scripter credit here for setting things up in such a way that the uninitiated could genuinely believe there’s a choice in the matter. Truly, that’s the tragedy of Nadine’s character – a lifetime of servitude to Randall Flagg led her to a moment where she could possibly get out, and the choice she makes decides her destiny. If you don’t know what that choice is, there’s some real good drama here. It helps the book out nicely, which it need, as Aquirre-Sacasa continues to bury us under an avalanche of caption boxes and overwritten narration. I know I’ve been complaining about this from the very beginning of Marvel’s efforts to turn The Stand into a comic book, but I have to. It’s the only thing keeping this from being a great adaptation. Captions should be used sparingly, when you can’t rely on the artwork to tell the story. But Mike Perkins and Laura Martin are brilliant artists and rarely need the help. We can get two or three boxes in a single panel describing how a character feels, while just to the right there’s a single drawing that does exactly the same job, and far more effectively.

I like this comic, but not as much as I should. Sometimes, they put out “Artist editions” of comics, where you just get the artwork and no text. This is one time I really think I would prefer that.

Rating: 7/10

Madman Atomic Comics #4

October 5, 2007

Madman Atomic Comics #4 (Image Comics)
By Michael Allred

The revival of Madman continues in brilliant fashion. Rescued in space by his own Techno-Clone, Astroman, Frank Einstein finds himself picked up by a strange space traveler who takes him to an ancient creature who points him in the direction of his own future. Madman has always been the sort of comic that carefully treads the thin border between zany, familiar superhero comics and cerebral, out-there works like Grant Morrison‘s Doom Patrol. This storyline is definitely trending toward the latter. Allred, fortunately, is one of the true masters of that kind of story. This feels like the next chapter in a storyline he’s been unspooling slowly over many, many years, and the patience both of the creator and the readers feels like it’s really paying off. I simply can’t wait for next issue and the return of The Atomics.
Rating: 8/10